Sewing-machine



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

- J. M. CURRY.

SEWING MAGHINE.

N. PETERS, Pholo-Lflhogmpher. Waihingion, D. C.

(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. M. CURRY. SEWING MACHINE.

No. 369,694. Patented sept. 13, 1887.

W'i asses.

I hW I N. PETERS. Pholo'Lflhogripher. Washillglon. D. C

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. J. M. CURRY.

SEWING MACHINE.

No. 369,694. Patented Sept. 13, 1887..

NITED STATES PATENT FFTCEQ SEWING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,694, dated September 13, 1887. Application filed July 23, 1885. Serial No. 172,376. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN M. CURRY, of Framingham, in the county of Middlesex. and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a specifiea tion, reference being had to the accompany ing drawings, in which-- Figures 1 and 2 are side elevations, Fig. 3 a plan, and Fig. at an end view, of my improved machines. Fig. 5 is a rear view, partly in section. The other figures are details for illustration, Figs. 6 and 7 illustrating the construction of the bearings for the needle-bar and presser-foot bar. Figs. 8, 9, l0, and 11 illustrate the construction of the presser foot, and Fig. 12 the construction of the feed.

My machine is mainly adapted for sewing together long narrowstrips, such as braid and the like, although some of the features of myinvention are applicable in sewing-machines.

.In sewing braid the'lap of one edge over the edge to which it is secured requires to be adjusted with very great nicety, and for all machines of this class there are consequently two sets of braid-guides, one set guiding by both edges the braid to be sewed, while the other set guides by one edge the braid which has been sewed. To regulate the lap, the guides by which both edges of the entering braid are guided must be adjusted .in relation to the guide for the edge of the braid already sewed;-

but this guide must also be adjustable to the needle and also to suit the thickness of the braid sewed.

The main feature of my invention relates to these guides and my invention consists, first, in mechanism for adjusting the edge-guides for the entering braid; secondly, in novel construction for the edge-guide for the sewed braid, and, thirdly, in novel means for connecting the presser-foot with its bar.

In the drawings, the two edgeguides for the entering braid are marked a and b, and are of the usual construction, except that'a slide, b of guide I) has a stud, b, projecting from its inner end, and on this stud is a pinion, b, fast to the sleeve If, by which the pinion may be rotated, and the guide I) be therefore adjusted by reason of the travel of the pinion over the rack-plate b. The guide a is supported by the guide I) in the usual manner, and its only adjustment is with the guide 1), except when it is adjusted for the width of the braid in the usual manner.

The rack-plate serves as a support for the slide b", which carries the stop If, and which can be set by means of the stud b fast to the slide b and thumb-nut b. The purpose of this adjustable stop, which is new with me, is to enable guide b to be quickly brought back to its exact adjustment after being moved away, as it frequently must be after using the machine. Heretofore in all machines of this class the guide I) has had to be practically readjusted Whenever it has been moved; but in my ma chine. when the guide I) is once adjusted, the stop I) is set in contact with the sleeve b or some other projection from the slide 1?, so that when the guide bis moved it can be readily brought back to its exact position by moving the slide b until it brings up on stop N.

The guide 01 is the edge-guide of the braid already sewed, and is made fast to the presserfoot by means of a shoe, (2, and screw and nut d the screw being fast to a projection from the footf through guide at and its shoe d. The guide d and its shoe (1 are practically one piece, but are shown as two pieces doweled together, that being the preferred construction.

The under surface of the shoe d is fiat with the under surface of the tang of guide (I, and forms, when in use, that part of the under surface of the presser-foot which bears upon the upper surface of the entering braid; and

inasmuch as the feed-surfaee is fiat and bears upon the under surfaceof the entering braid, it is essential that the under surface of the presser-foot should be nearer the feed-surface when but a single thickness of braidthat is, the entering braid-is between the under surface of the presser-foot and the fcedsurface than when there are two thicknesses of braid between the feed-surface and presser-foot, and consequently that part of the under surface of the presser-foot formed by shoe (1 must be adjustable with relation to the under surface of the foot f to suit the thicknesses of braid,

that is to say, the under edge of the guide d and the under surface of its shoe d have but one thickness of braid under them, while the resser-foot proper rests upon two thicknesses.

It will now be clear that the under edge of guide d and the under surface of its shoe d must be adjusted with relation to the under surface of the presser-foot to suit the thickness of the braid, and also that the under surface of the projecting part of guide d will be in proper relation to the groove to suit the thickness of the braid. I provide for both these adjustments by connecting the guide at and the shoed' with foot fby means of the slanting leg on foot f entering the slanting slot in guide d and shoe (1, so that when the guide d, with its shoe d, is raised or lowered the projecting part of the guide (1 is also drawn back or thrown forward-that is, by lowering the nut-and moving guide d and its shoe d over the block on screw (1' the surface of the presser-foot is adjusted to suit the thickness of the braids, and at the same time the projecting part of the guide d is also adjusted. with relation to the curved throat-plate for that thickness of braid. So far as I know, I am the first to 'obtain this adjustment. Heretofore machines have been provided with several different sizes of parts corresponding to my guide d and shoe d for braids of different thicknesses. 1

In order to adapt the foot f, guide d, and shoe d for the sewing of braids in which one edge is roughened or formed with What is technically called an eye, (that is when the braid is considerably thicker along one edge than the average thickness,) Iplace a shim, f, between the guide at and foot f, so 'as to form a groove in theuuder surface, into which the projections above the surfaceof the braid along one edge can enter. These shims are readily applied, and a set of them is used in practice, varying in thickness to suit the eye of the braid.

The adjustment of distance of the seam from the edge of the upper braid is obtained by moving the presser-foot f on its bar F by means of a thumb-nut, f and screw as will be readily understood from Figs. 1, 8, 9, 10, and 11. Screwf is fixed at one end in bar F, and a shoulder on its nutf lies in slots in the inner edges ofthe arms of yoke f (see Fig. 11,) carrying presser-foot f and sliding in grooves in bar F when nutf is turned on screwf, as will be plain to all skilled in the art. (See Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11.) The yokef" is secured in any desired position by means of clampingnut f which clamps the yoke against one wall of the grooves in bar F. (See Fig. 8.) This feature of my invention is of practical value in sewing-machines, as will be readily understood by all skilled in the art.

The feed-bar h is actuated by three eccentrics, h h h h and h givingthe up and down movements and h the back and forth movements. The connecting-rod h is adjustable, and is connected to arms h of rock-shaft h in order to vary the length of the stitch. The feed-bar h is joined to arm h of the rockshafth. This combination of therock-shafth,

its two arms 7L5 and 72 connecting-rod h, and

its. eccentric h with the feed-bar h and eccentric h and h is a matter of practical importance in view of the very high speed at which these machines are run. The wear on the bearings g g of the main shaft Ghas heretofore been ill distributed, the wear being far greater on the front bearing, g, than on the rear bearing, g.

By arranging the eccentrics h and h? and bearing 9 as shown I find that the machine 1s made to run more smoothly with less wear, and that the regularity of the feed is much improved, for one of the chief defects arising from wear at the front bearing of the shaft 1s to make the feed irregular.

The tension of the spring 9' holds the thread while the needle is going down and until the point of the needle enters the work, when the pressure of spring j should be taken from the thread. I accomplish this by a stud, which projects from a needle-bar, J. The stud j should carry an anti-friction roll, as shown.

The guide-eye k is adjusted in relation to the needle-bar N-so as to pull off the thread from the spool at each rise of the needle-bar to suit the thickness 'of the work. In thin work the quantity of thread taken up in the stitch is of course much less than in thicker work, and when the guide-eye k is not made adjustable its position in relation to the straight line drawn from the tension T to the guide-eye of the needle-bar M is determined to suit the average thickness of the work, and hence in work of extra thickness the machine is apt to skip stitches. This difficulty is overcome by making the guide-eye 7c adjustable. When thrown forward near the needle-bar, the maximum amount of thread will be pulled off at every rise of the needle-bar; but when the shank of eye is stands vertical the minimum amount will be pulled off. This eye is held by the set-screw 7c in'its support is.

The needle-bar N and presser-foot bar F are held in slit bushings n, and these bushings are clamped in place by the bolts 11/, which are held to the arm of the machine by the screws n". The purpose of this construction is to compensate for thewear of the bars and guides, all wear being taken up by simply setting up the screws from time to time.

The presser-foot bar F is connected by a latch, m, and stud m to presser-foot lever M, and this lever is connected by rod m with a cam-lever, m which is thrown down by cam on on the main shaft. (See Fig. 5.) The spring m" forces the presser-foot F toward the table. For greater-nicety of adjustment, the rod m should be composed of two sockets united by a middle part with a right-and-left screw on its ends. By this mechanism the feed is relieved in great part from the stress of the presser-foot spring.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In combination, guide I), slide 6 stud b, pinion b rack-plate b slide b carrying stop 12, and adjusting stud and nut b b", all substantially as described.

ICO

2. In asewing-machine for braid or the like, f", in combination with resser-foot bar F, its a resser-foot composed of the main part f, the nut f, and adjusting screw and nut f 2 f sub- :0 guide d, with its tang slotted, as shown,.the stantially as described. shoe d, slotted as shown, and the screw and 5 nut d the slots in the tang of guide (1 and in JOHN CURRY shoe d being slanting, as and for the purpose WVitnesses: set forth. J. E. MAYNADIER,

3. The presser-foothaving a slotted yoke, JOHN R. SNOW. 

